The Crown's Obsession (WN)

Madeline continued to stay in Calhoun's embrace, and it soothed her troubled mind. Even though the demons and the fallen angels who were after her ability were now dead, she didn't know why but there was a feeling in her mind as if it wasn't over. Was it because Paschar and the other angel named Michael had appeared to take her away from this place? But then they had agreed not to take her to Heaven after listening to Calhoun and Vladimir's words.

"Did the physcian come to the castle?" questioned Madeline. Everything had moved so quickly in haste that Madeline continued to feel the jitter in her nerves.

Calhoun hummed in response, "Yes. The guards called three physcians from the nearest village and town. Most of the people have already been checked and are in the process of being treated."

"Lucy too?" she asked, pulling away from him and taking a step back so that she could meet his eyes without having to crane her neck up.

"Her too. Paschar checked her before I came to get you from the mountain. You did good, Madeline," Calhoun praised her, and the little remark was enough to bring a faint smile on her lips. "But you were also bad in trying to heal people. Not once, but twice." There was a stern look in his eyes, and Madeline's eyes lowered.

She knew she would get to hear about this from Calhoun once they would be alone. "I wanted to help."

"I know, my sweet rose, but at the cost of your own life?" asked Calhoun. Lucy was a dear sister of his, and Raphael was someone he could count upon when his own relatives couldn't offer that kind of help. And as much as they were important, Madeline was the breath to his soul. If something happened to her, he would have torn both Heaven and Hell apart until he would reunite with her again.

He then said, "It might be wrong of me to say, but Paschar and the others are waiting for you to enter Heaven. Dark angel or not, they would happily receive you. And you put yourself in such risks," he tsked in the end.

Calhoun placed his finger below Madeline's chin, raising her face closer to him so that he could inspect. He then leaned forward to lick the blood that had smeared across her lips. Madeline felt his warm coarse tongue lap on her skin, making her tremble before he pulled away.

With the chaotic night that fell in the Hawthrone castle, the guests who had overstayed in the castle had started to pack their bags and put in the carriage so that they could leave. Some had already left, and there were barely two or three guests who had not started to pack their trunks. The sounds of the carriage could be heard as if they were leaving the castle. The guests who were leaving had already met Calhoun, when Madeline was in Beth's room. Some of them now made their way to where Calhoun and Madeline stood, bowing their heads to offer their greetings.

Seeing them leave at the end of the corridor, Calhoun said, "If you look at the brighter side, there will be fewer people to worry about, and only people who matter have stayed behind."

"They always do," whispered Madeline. Her mama always used to tell it was always the difficult times that showed who stuck in life.

When one of the servants was walking past them in the corridor, Calhoun questioned, "Are the maids attending Lady Monique?"

The servant bowed his head, "Yes, my King. Three maids are right now assisting Lady Monique. Would you want me to send a few more?"

"No, that will be fine. Have the servants clean the front part of the castle first. They can finish the rest later," ordered Calhoun.

With the attack that took place last night, it was apparent that the High House members were going to arrive.

Madeline saw the servant leave when Calhoun dismissed him.

Only a few members were left in the main seating of the High House as Lilith, Luther, Weasley were now dead, and Reginald, that was Paschar had left the High House without a word. She wondered how the Head of the High House was doing. Calhoun was making sure to reduce the blow of the death's in the castle, but then they were not all guests as it was mixed with intruders who had broken in at the time of night.

"I am going to see Monique. You can go to the room and rest," Calhoun offered Madeline. He was a vampire. Therefore the lack of sleep didn't matter to him. But Madeline had been hiding her yawns just so that she could stay around him, which he found it to be sweet and it warmed his heart.

Madeline shook her head, "I will come with you."

Calhoun didn't refuse, and instead, his hand found her hand, interlocking the fingers, they made their way to where his relative was in the guest room.

When they arrived at the door, the maid who stood outside pushed the doors open, and Madeline caught sight of Lady Monique who sat upright on the bed with her back leaning against the bed's headboard.

There were two maids who stood on the left and one on the right side of the bed, holding a wet towel in her hand. "It is good to see that both of you are doing well," said Lady Monique, seeing the couple enter the room.

"How are you doing?" Calhoun inquired the vampiress.

"Never better. It was quite some night yesterday. The last time I saw things run out of control was when my step-brother and his wife died. But I believe that barely scratched the surface compared to what happened in here. Did all the damn intruders die?" asked Lady Monique.

"All killed and sent to Hell," replied Calhoun.

The vampiress nodded her head, a sigh escaping her lips. With the blanket placed until the vampiress' chest, Madeline wondered if she had injured her leg. But then when Monique raised her right arm, she noticed the bandage around Monique's forearm. It was as if the length of the vampiress' hand had shortened because, after her forearm, the other part was missing.

Madeline's eyes widened, "Your hand…" she whispered with a shock-filled voice.

The older vampiress looked down at her arm, "It was Greville's boy. I knew he despised me because he knew I had an eye on him. It was something unfortunate." It must have happened before Samuel had met Lucy.

Calhoun looked less shocked as it seemed that news about the lady's arm had already reached his ears. "There's a physican who lives in the village of Maycott. He came from the land of Warrings, and he is excellent in creating body parts things from metals."

"Lucky me," remarked the woman without being upset over her hand that was missing from her body. "How are you both doing? I heard from Theodore that both you and Lady Madeline were not here. Everything well?"

Calhoun offered his aunt a small smile, "For now, yes. There won't be any more attacks from the demons or other creatures."

"That's good to hear. How is your sister, Lady Madeline?" asked the woman to Madeline.

"She's resting right now. She has been exhausted," replied Madeline.

"We'll let you rest too," said Calhoun and Lady Monique offered him and Madeline a smile, nodding in agreement to see the couple step out of the room.

As they walked farther away from the lady's room, Madeline questioned, "Will her hand be okay?"

"Hm, the physician I spoke about, will provide her with a fake hand that she can use once he operates on her arm. The land of Warrings are mostly subjected to animals biting them, and it is one way to replace the original hand," Calhoun answered her question.

Madeline had never heard about something like this, and it was brand new to her.

Last night, most of the guests had hidden in their rooms, avoiding the fight. A few had tried to escape, at least that is what she and Calhoun believed, but those guests were unsuccessful because their bodies were found outside the castle. Hours passed in Hawthrone's castle, and Madeline took a walk by herself as Calhoun had other matters to attend to.

The castle had turned back to its normal state and the walls that were broken and damaged, men had already arrived to fix it. Halting her footsteps, she walked towards the railings. She noticed the long path from where she stood that led up to the large castle's gates.

It felt like it was only two days ago that she had held on to the front of her dress, running towards the gates. And now that she thought about it, a faint smile appeared on her lips. Things had changed so much.

Bringing her hand in front of her, she opened her hand and stared at the plain emptiness before a snowflake appeared out of nowhere to settle there. She played with it by letting it twirl, and she moved it up and down. At the same time, she felt her chest turn restless.

It made Madeline wonder how long it would take for the uneasiness to leave her body and feel all better. Just as the snowflake was about to settle back on the palm of her hand, her eyes fell on the creature that stood on the castle ground, which was not too far away from where she was.